Water tariff hike to raise your restaurant bills

From the next month, you will have to pay more when you eat out at most restaurants, thanks to the steep hike in water charges proposed by the civic body for hotels across Mumbai.

From the next month, you will have to pay more when you eat out at most restaurants, thanks to the steep hike in water charges proposed by the civic body for hotels across Mumbai.

The water tariff has been upped for hotels by 60% — from Rs 25 per 1,000 litres to Rs 40. For hotels that are in the three-star and higher categories, the hike is 59% — from Rs 38 per 1,000 litres to Rs 60.

The sewage tax will also rise as it is calculated at 60% of the water bill.

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Sudhakar Shetty, president of Ahar, the apex body of hoteliers with 7,000 members, said consumers will have to pay more. “We will be forced to pass the hike to the customers,” he said.

Ambar Mahajan, owner of Out of the Blue, which has branches in Khar and Powai, said: “Any increase in water prices will have a direct effect on the food and beverage industry because the consumption of water in restaurants and hotels is huge. But as of now I can’t comment on what sort of increase we are looking at.”

Satish Shetty, CMD of Peninsula Grand Hotel, a four-star hotel in Andheri (east), said: “Ideally, we should increase the prices, but we can’t do that. If we raise the prices, we lose business. Losing a customer is a bigger risk than cutting profits. I prefer to retain my customer base and make less profit.”

Inputs from Serena Menon